A Porn-Pop Summer

Flo Rida granted an interview to NBC anchor Matt Lauer, who
buttered up his guest by asking if his mother deserved credit for inspiring
him to ascend from the rougher neighborhoods of Miami. Flo Rida's answer was
even more offensive in its hypocrisy: "I mean, most definitely. She always
taught me to dream big, put God first, you know, sacrifice and the sky's the
limit."

I wonder what God thinks of that.

It's not just men who behave like pigs. The dance diva named
Lady Gaga had a hit song titled "Love Game" that repeatedly celebrated the
male anatomy: "Let's have some fun, this beat is sick / I wanna take a ride
on your disco stick." A newspaper in the Philippines put the perfect spin on
her concert there: "Lady with Legs Wide Open." Her songs aren't just a smash
on the radio; they star on TV shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" on
FOX.

These songs are not the cutting edge; they are the mainstream.
The Culture and Media Institute studied 29 songs that were listed on top 20
airplay charts posted by Mediabase from June 10 to July 22. A large majority
(69 percent) of the songs made at least one reference to sex, alcohol,
drugs, or contained profanity. Nearly half (46 percent) of the songs
contained sexual lyrics and 31 percent of the songs referenced drugs or
alcohol. Profanity occurred in 41 percent of the songs.

Dr. Brian Primack of the University of Pittsburgh Medical School
studied more than 700 ninth-graders and found in a study earlier this year
that sexual songs lead to more sexual activity by teens: "High exposure to
lyrics describing degrading sex in popular music was independently
associated with higher levels of sexual behavior. In fact, exposure to
lyrics describing degrading sex was one of the strongest associations with
sexual activity." This might seem like an obvious finding, but no one in the
music business bats an eye.

If tobacco companies can be blamed for lung cancer, and oil
companies can be blamed for global warming, why aren't radio stations and
record companies that churn out pornographic music blamed for teen pregnancy
and sexually transmitted diseases?